


Were the world mine

by briefoptimisticspaceaffair



Category: Will (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Bulldozing through Catholic guilt with Celtic festivals like a pro, Kit Marlowe is a dark emo boy who needs a hug, Lots of Sex, M/M, Period-Typical Homophobia, Sex, Will Shakespeare is a disater, Will Shakespeare is available free and willing for hugs, Will Shakespeare is baby gay, Will Shakespeare is hearteyes 24/7, Will is our bisexual boi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-26 13:48:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30106914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/briefoptimisticspaceaffair/pseuds/briefoptimisticspaceaffair
Summary: Will pulled away from Kit’s mouth and ignored the small pout Kit gave Will. “We’re not doing this in public” Will said firmly and dragged Kit away from the alcove and through the pub’s back door.“But we were just doing this in public,” Kit slyly said, smirking. Will resisted the temptation to kiss the smirk off Kit’s face. Kit’s smirk grew into a grin, he could see Will was glaring at his mouth. Will tugged harder on Kit’s coat and quickend their pace. Will’s room was just around the corner and Will would prefer that the less time he spent outside with a pressing need in his trousers the better.
Relationships: Christopher Marlowe/William Shakespeare, Will Shakespeare/Kit Marlowe, Will/Kit
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter One

“What will they think of us Anne?” Will couldn't help but say wryly to the older woman gathering the breakfast things from the table. Anne paused in her work, she looked up at Will. To where he stood in the doorway boots on his feet, coat on his back and sack by his side. Anne smiled her beautiful smile, her eyes soft and kind.

“I do not care. I only care that you live,” Anne replied. She left the dishes and remnants of food picking a sprig of lavender from the vase Anne walked up to Will. “Live Will, you saved my life so now I am saving yours”. And with that Anne Hathaway tucked the lavender into Will’s inside breast pocket and placed a farewell kiss on his cheek. 

“I’ll send you what I can,” Will promised and kissed the back of Anne’s hand.  
The children were out in the garden, Anne's little girl was laughing. 

Will shut the door behind him and tilted his head back to see the sky above. Will filled his lungs with air and took off. He did not know when he would return, or even if he would return. 

Will felt a smile grow on his lips. Each step he took was a step towards freedom. Will would be free. Free of the town he had been born in. Free of the harsh opinions of people who thought they knew everything about him. 

William Shakespeare was going to take London by storm. 

London, Will imagined would be magnificent. And for a moment it was, past the mud and grime and smell of the locals. The streets opened up and the rich gentry made the day their playground. The air was full of scented flowers, beautiful men and women in rich clothes laughed and played. 

But Will was not on the same street as the rich. His feet were in mud and a beggar was by his knee. Will fumbled his way through the narrow stinking streets and managed to fall into a pub. There by some strange luck was a group from the local theatre. Will charmed his way into the playwright’s graces. They were in need of an actor, and Will could be a very good actor.

A man died. Tortured in front of a cheering crowd. 

Will sat in the gutter and breathed. It was getting cold. Will tried not to close his eyes. Every time he so much as blinked he saw the man twisted in agony. It had started to rain.

Will's boots squelched through the mud as he stumbled down the streets in the pouring rain. Will tugged at his thin coat, he was so cold. 

Will turned a corner, the theatre was down the street. He would be inside and dry soon enough. Will felt a prickle at his neck, a sensation of being watched. Will snapped his head up and looked around the empty street. 

There was no one there. Will sighed, he was on edge. Something moved in the corner of Will's eye and Will hurriedly turned to see what it was. 

A beautiful creature stood watching Will. He was under the leanings of a roof. Through the blur of heavy rain Will could see golden hair that framed the sharp features of a handsome face. One arm was resting above his head leaning against a slab of wood. He was looking straight at Will. Will felt pinned on the spot by the man's piercing gaze. Will's boot slipped from under him and he stumbled backwards in the mud. 

When Will regained his balance and looked back at the corner where the man had stood. He was no longer there, vanished into the rain like magic. 

Will stood a while longer in the rain gazing at the gap in the air where the man had stood. Will didn't know if his heart was pounding from the shock or from something else. 

Will let the rain seep down the back of his coat and wondered if he had been a witness to a creature of the otherworld passing through. The air seemed rich with something. A promise of potential. Will's fingers itched for a quill.


	2. Chapter Two

"I have a play". Will ventured boldly, or at least he tried under the scornful stares of Burbage and company. 

"And where exactly do you have it?" Burbage asked, raising a mocking eyebrow and looking expectantly at Will to fumble at the question and rush off to dig out some papers from somewhere.

Will grinned and dug into his coat producing a folded and scrunched script. Burbage scoffed and snatched the pages. But he was glancing over them and then began to read. Will's smile grew. 

~ ~

Will found himself back in a pub with the theater company. The men toasted to Will's new play and several tried to weddle Will for more lines. Will laughed with actors and accepted a beer from someone's hands. 

Will was making his way down a third beer when he noticed someone move to sit down at the opposite end of the pub. It was the man from last night. The one who had been watching Will in the rain.

He was still unearthly beautiful in the daylight. Without the heavy rain obscuring Will's view, he could see very clearly that the man had long golden hair. Which tumbled around his head in gentle waves framing his sharp features.

The man had cheek bones to die for. Piercing blue eyes cut across the room and stared at Will. The cupid's bow of a soft pink mouth curled into a knowing smirk.

Will's stomach fluttered and he jolted turning away from the man's eyes. Will's sleeve was wet, soaked with beer spilt in his haste to get away from those eyes. The back of Will's neck prickled, and he knew if he turned back around he would find the man looking straight at him. 

Will swallowed a bracing gulp of beer. His throat was suddenly very dry. 

______________________________________________________________________________

There was a man talking to the street urchins. Kit observed from his sheltered corner tucked away out of sight. Kit had wanted to talk with the urchins himself. Kit had wanted to see if they had any whispers to tell him. Hungry small children could go places no one ever dreamed they might possibly be. They were a great assist to Kit’s monthly rent. 

The man smiled softly at the children. He had handed out apples he had bought from the fruit peddler around the corner. Kit wondered if the man was one of those saintly types. He certainly looked heavenly. Dark cherub curls framed his handsome face and wide innocent eyes blinked at the urchins. Kit wanted to ruin him. Kit sucked in a sharp breath through his nose and walked away. 

~ ~

It was raining heavily. Kit stepped outside away from the thick smoky air. Someone stumbled through the mud down in the street. Kit took a closer look and instantly recognised the handsome face of the man who had been handing out apples earlier that day. Something curled in Kit’s gut at the sight of the man’s wet face and rain soaked dark curls. Kit leaned against a beam of wood and stared down the street at the man. The man suddenly halted and those wide innocent eyes flashed to Kit’s hiding place. 

Kit could see the man’s chest heaving with each breath, his mouth was slightly parted rain trickling over his lips. Kit looked up and met the man’s wide eyes. The man lost his footing and Kit, free of some spell, took the chance to get back inside. Kit leaned against the back of the door. His heart was pounding in his chest, Kit rested a tentative hand over his heart. And he wondered, who was that man? 

~ ~

Kit shouldered his way through the crowd to Tommy’s table. Tommy and his friends jeered and sloshed drink on the floor. Kit gave Tommy a smile in greeting and pulled a stool to one side.

Kit was morose today. He did not want company, and yet he craved the attention. Kit settled onto the stool and sipped a beer, pondering exactly how Tommy’s dagger would feel against his neck. Sharp? Would blood be drawn from the softest touch? 

Kit stared dispassionately around the pub. It wasn’t particularly interesting. There didn’t even appear to be a fight on the edge of breaking out. 

Kit sipped at his beer, he glanced up and met the wide eyes of the man from the street. He was staring quite fixedly at Kit’s mouth, and the look in his eyes certainly wasn’t innocent, it was interested. 

Kit knocked his shoulders back feeling smugly satisfied. Of course the man was interested, Kit was very tempting. Kit smirked at the man and was delighted at the pink blush that bloomed across the man’s cheeks. But it was too swiftly covered, the man turned away leaving Kit to stare at the back of his head and those dark cherub curls.


	3. Chapter Three

Will tried not to let his nerves show. The play had been good. Burbage had been pleased. But nothing was certain. Will was at the mercy of Burbage’s whims. If he decided to throw Will out, there was nothing Will could do. And Will would have lost several plays to Burbage’s theater. 

Will tugged at his curls fighting his worry. A playwright's life wasn’t ever going to be easy. Will’s words were like parts of his very soul carved out and written on paper. Will couldn’t imagine losing them. 

Pages were missing. The new pages Will had been working on for a new play. He had left them on the writing desk, and now they were gone. Will tried not to panic, scrambling around trying to see if the pages had somehow fallen somewhere. 

Under the desk. Behind the desk. Under the chair. Behind a curtain. Will made a soft desperate noise and flew out of the room, he needed to find those pages. They were vital, they were important, they were-.

Will nearly slammed into a very nice braided coat. Will stepped back and looked up into the face of the man Will could have sworn was a figment of his fantasies. “Oh,” Will breathed, staring at the otherworldly man. 

“It’s a good start” the man said tilting his head to one side “I look forward to reading the rest”. Will realised the man was holding a fist of pages. Will’s pages. Will knew he should probably feel annoyed that the man had picked up and read Will’s play without asking. But Will was a bit stuck on the fact that a strand of wavy golden hair was currently resting against the man’s throat. 

“Oh, thank you” Will smiled and accepted his pages back. Will gently held the pages and tried to think of something to say that wasn’t, can I kiss you? “I’m Will, er, William”. Will licked his lips nervously. "Shakespeare".

The man smirked at Will again. “Christopher Marlowe” he said and offered a hand to shake. Will tried not to gape. The Christopher Marlowe. The Playwright Christoper Marlowe. Had just read Will’s words and liked them. Will shook Marlowe’s hand and tried to think of words to say. 

There was a noise to the side, a disturbance somewhere else in the theater. Marlowe looked in the direction and sighed. Marlowe flashed Will a wry smile before he walked off. Will half wanted to follow him and half wanted to ask him to stay. Instead Will just stared at Marlowe’s retreating back and did his best to ignore stirrings of desire. 

______________________________________________________________________________

William Shakespeare. Kit rolled the name around his tongue. The man who had come to London to write plays. William Shakespeare. 

Kit was curious about Shakespeare, he wanted to know more. So lingered and watched. Shakespeare had a cut on his hand. Kit felt a swirl of worry. They were looking for a man with a cut across his palm. They were saying he was a Catholic spy. And Kit knew what they did to Catholic spies. 

Kit sort of liked Shakespeare. He was worth something. And Kit couldn't deny the magnetic pull he felt drawing him again and again into Shakespeare's path. 

So maybe Kit played Baxter into their hands just to get the attention away from Shakespeare. So maybe Kit was responsible for another man's death. The dark thing around Kit's heart wound a bit tighter. 

~ ~

Christopher Marlowe was bad news and Will didn’t know how to feel about it. Will was sure Marlowe had got Baxter killed by framing him as the Catholic. Will wondered madly if Marlowe had done it to hide Will from the Catholic killers. Will didn’t think he could take it if that actually had been Marlowe’s reasoning. 

The city was closing in on Will. He had foolishly thought leaving Stratford would be a release. A freedom, that Will would be free to write and live in the world as a free man. Instead Will has hunted. The constant threat of capture and death hanging over his head. Will didn’t want Marlowe to be this sort of bad news. 

Will wanted to buy Marlowe a drink. Will wanted to talk about plays and passion, poetry and wonder. Will wanted to debate temptation, taboos and words with the man. Will wanted to talk about sex, prefarably whilst having said sex with Marlowe.


	4. Chapter Four

Will entered the pub with trepidation. He needed Marlowe not to be the devil’s advocate. Will needed Marlowe to not turn Will in. Will clenched his teeth and approached the table where Marlowe and his friends were sitting. Marlowe laughed at something one man said, he leaned into the man’s space caressing his jaw. Will was alarmed to feel a stab of fury. Marlowe pressed his lips to the man’s. Will needed Marlowe to stop kissing that man. 

“A man is dead because of you!” Will angrily spat out at Marlowe, daring to approach the table. Marlowe looked up at Will. He still had his hands on the man’s face. Will flexed his jaw and tried not to clench his hands. Something sparkled in Marlowe’s eyes and then he was sauntering towards Will. 

Will found himself backed up against a wall in a low alcove. Marlowe’s face was deliciously close. All of Marlowe was deliciously close. Marlowe was pressed up against Will’s front. Will dug a hand punishingly hard into Marlowe’s waist, and leaned into Marlowe’s space to whisper angry words dangerously close to Marlowe’s smirking mouth.

It was as though the air between them crackled with lightning. The tension was palpable. For a heart beat Will thought Marlowe might kiss him. 

And then Will abruptly remembered the reason behind this confrontation. “Please tell me you didn’t know Baxter would die” Will asked desperately. Marlowe leaned back a little. His face flicked with conflict, Will imagined he could detect a flash of guilt in Marlowe’s eyes. 

Marlowe was guilty. Will was sure of it. But Will still wanted him. Will fisted his hands in the collar of Marlowe’s coat. “Why are you so damn dangerous,” Will groaned, his lips brushing over Marlowe’s. The surprise in Marlowe’s eyes melted into glittering satisfaction. 

“You’re the one that finds it appealing”. Marlowe quipped, their mouths were ghosting softly together. Touching but not quite. Tempting, teasing brushes.

“I do not”. Will sternly denied and then immediately rescinded the statement, by finally closing the distance and biting at Marlowe’s mouth.

Marlowe laughed into Will’s mouth, the sound reverberated down Will’s neck. Will was turned on and annoyed. He bit and licked into Marlowe’s mouth somehow thinking that this would get Marlowe to stop pissing him off. 

Will quickly realised that kissing to show how irritated you were could be misinterpreted. And in Marlowe’s case, he bloody revealed in both Will’s irritation and lust. 

Marlowe’s hands were in Will’s curls. He was gently tugging his fingers through the hair at the nape of Will’s neck. Will tried not to whine into Marlowe’s open mouth. Will broke the kiss with a gasp. 

“Is there, do you,” Will tried to say as Marlowe kissed across his jaw. “Marlowe,” Will said and pretended he didn’t sound punched out and breathless. 

“Kit” Marlowe murmmed. Will frowned in confusion. 

“What?” Will asked looking into Marlowe’s enchanting eyes. 

“Call me Kit, Will”. Marlowe grinned and kissed Will again. Will tried not to get distracted by Marlowe’s teasing lips. Will would very much like to go somewhere less public then a corner of a pub. Somewhere very far away from that man Kit had kissed. 

Will pulled away from Kit’s mouth and ignored the small pout Kit gave Will. “We’re not doing this in public” Will said firmly and dragged Kit away from the alcove and through the pub’s back door. 

“But we were just doing this in public,” Kit slyly said, smirking. Will resisted the temptation to kiss the smirk off Kit’s face. Kit’s smirk grew into a grin, he could see Will was glaring at his mouth. Will tugged harder on Kit’s coat and quickend their pace. Will’s room was just around the corner and Will would prefer that the less time he spent outside with a pressing need in his trousers the better.

Will shoved the door open and was on Kit in the next breath. The door was firmly shut, and there was no one here to see. Will grabbled with Kit’s expensive coat trying to get it off him. Will wanted bare skin under his hands. Kit laughed softly against Will’s mouth “I should get you alone more often”. Will hummed in agreement and tore at their clothes flinging his own shirt somewhere behind him. 

Will attached his mouth to Kit’s again. Kit pulled at Will’s thighs and Will easily looped them around Kit’s waist. Will grinded against Kit searching for friction. “Will, where's your bed?” Kit asked tightly gripping at Will’s hips. 

“It’s upstairs” Will was aware that he had been rather desperate. He hadn't even managed to get Kit into his room before he had been all over Kit. Kit raised an eyebrow and glanced over to the stairs. Will unwound his legs from Kit’s waist and tugged on Kit’s hand leading him up the stairs, Kit crowded close behind Will kissing at his neck and across his bare back. 

Will pushed Kit into his room and dropped to his knees pulling at the waist of Kit’s trousers. “Will,” Kit said in surprise. Will deftly freed Kit from his trousers and breathed over Kit’s cock, it was red and hard and leaking. Kit trembled his thighs twitching, Will smoothed his hands over Kit’s thighs and licked a strip from the base of Kit’s cock to the tip. Kit moaned, his hands sinking into Will’s curls. 

Will mouthed around Kit’s cock and gently soothed his hands over Kit’s arse. Will kissed the head of Kit’s cock letting the cock slip past his lips and into Will’s open mouth. Kit was making wonderful gasping moans. Will swallowed against Kit’s cock laving his tongue against the underside of Kit’s cock. Kit let out a very satisfying moan. Will waited for his throat to adjust before he pulled his mouth almost all the way off Kit’s cock and quickly swallowed it again. 

Will reached a hand down to ease his own aching cock. Kit moaned loudly and his hands tightened in Will’s hair. Will let out an involuntary moan of his own and sucked hard on Kit’s cock. Kit’s thighs trembled and he managed to say “Will” in warning before Will felt cum hit the back of his throat. Will stood up pressing his cock against Kit’s stomach, Will kissed at Kit’s neck and rutted against him. Kit reached out a hand and tilted Will’s mouth towards his own licking into Will’s mouth. Will groaned, whiting out and climaxing against Kit’s stomach.

“Ah, where did you even learn to suck cock like that?” Kit asked curiously. Will huffed a laugh against Kit’s mouth and tugged Kit away from the wall tumbling down onto Will’s bed. 

Kit let Will push him down against the mattress. Will couldn’t help but linger a little hovering above Kit letting their chests brush against one another. Their legs entwined satisfactorily. Kit stared bemusedly up at Will. 

"You know, I really thought you'd be very different about desire". Kit said contemplatively tugging gently at one of Will's curls. 

Will raised an eyebrow "let me guess. You expected me to be shy and innocent". Will tucked one of Kits thighs between his own. 

"Yes, you do have an innocent air around you". Kit rested a ringed hand against Will's ribs. The cold metal stung Will's overheated skin. 

Will leaned in to brush his mouth tantalisingly over Kit's, a wet brush of lips. "You'd be surprised how often I get that". Will could feel lust coiling in his gut anew. 

Kit laughed quietly "it's those eyes of yours". Kit said brushing a finger under Will's right eye. Will leaned over Kit's torso putting a little of his weight onto Kit's stomach. 

Will fished open the side cabinets drawer and located a tin. Kit caught sight of the tin and recognized it. "You are proving to be well versed in desire". Kit said with a gleam in his eyes and a small smile growing on his lips.

Will sat back on his thighs, legs straddling Kit's waist. Will tilted his head up and stared down at Kit. Kit let out a soft involuntary whine. Will deftly twisted the lid of the tin off placing both halves on Kit's stomach. 

Kit twitched under the sensation of cold metal and gasped loudly. But he settled back against the bed lying sprawled out and watched Will with hooded eyes. 

Will got on his knees towering over Kit and scooped a generous amount of cream from the tin. Kit shuffled slightly against Will's legs and Will could see Kit's pupils dilate with lust. Will reached behind himself cupping the round globes of his arse and teased a finger over his arsehole. 

Kit sucked in a sharp breath and grabbed his own cock stroking himself as he watched Will finger himself. Kit dunked his own fingers into the tin and applied the contents liberally to his cock. Kit quickly shoved the tin to one side. 

Will sunk in a finger and then a second, and slip them in and out gently easing his arsehole open. Will bit back in involuntary moan dropping his head against his chest he increased the speed of his fingers fucking himself. 

Will met Kit's gaze, Kit was a tense line across the bed. His muscles straining in effort to keep still. Kit's eyes were dark orbs searing into Will's skin. Kit's chest was heaving with each breath. 

Will noticed Kit had stopped stroking his cock and now had a fist clamped around the base, snug against his balls. Will rearranged himself to hover over Kit's cock. Will placed his own hand over Kit's at the base of Kit's cock. Will lowered himself slowly, using his other hand to guide the tip of Kit's cock past the rim of his arsehole.

Kit slid his two hands around Will's hips and gently squeezed Will's arse. Will sank down bottoming out and paused letting his arsehole adjust to the feeling of Kit's cock filling him up. Will could feel Kit's legs trembling under him with tension as Kit forced himself to keep still. 

Will raised his hips experimentally and slowly fucked himself on Kit's cock. Kit was out right panting mouth wide open and a delarius look of lust on his handsome face. Will leaned forward, "I want you to fuck me Kit" Will gasped. Kit shuddered with pleasure letting his hips fuck up into Will.

Will moaned sinfully, Kit sat up, Will bouncing in his lap and attached their mouths together. Will sank into the kiss licking across Kit's teeth and delving into his mouth. Kit gently pushed Will back against the bed and Will hooked his legs around Kit's back. Kit increased the speed of his hips and Will shouted as Kit hit his prostate.

Will blinked hazailly at the beams of wood criss crossing over the ceiling. Kit panted against his neck coming down from his own earth shattering orgasm. "Seriously" Kit huffed horsley " where did you learn to fuck like that?" 

Will managed to get some of his own breath back into his lungs. "Beltine".

Kit stared at the side of Will's head, too tired to lift his head to stare at Will's face. "You've celebrated Beltine?" Kit asked disbelieving. 

Will laughed a little "every summer". 

"Damn I should leave the city more often if that's what they do in the country". Kit joined in Will's laughter. Kit tucked himself against Will's side, and ran his fingers over Will's ribs with feather light softness. Will hummed plastering himself against Kit and slid his eyes shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I saw the show and I went mmmm could do with more sex along with all of that delicious eye sex. So I then went and wrote it :D


	5. Chapter Five

Will grinned, his chest was so light he felt he could fly. Words and tales poured from Will like a cornucopia of clarity had been unleashed in Will’s mind. Will dipped his quill into the ink and continued. 

~ ~ 

Kit stared at the piece of paper in front of him. He couldn't think of any words. Nothing. He didn't know where to take his play next. The darkness was quiet, it was silent. Kit had no words, no dark mutterings. Nothing. 

Kit threw his pen down in frustration cursing. He paused a few angry steps away from his writing desk and rubbed at his eyes.

The whisperings had reached Kit that morning, and he was feeling more the fool for not realising himself. Will was married. He had children. Of course he was married, Kit smacked the palm of his hand against his forehead. Will wore a ring on his right hand ring finger. Kit was such a fool.

~ ~

Will enclosed a few sheets of money with the letter. He knew Anne would read the first part out to the children. The second part he hoped she would be pleased with. Will was free, he was a playwright. Will had hinted in the letter that he found someone in the city as well, he hinted that someone was a man. Will smiled to himself imagining Anne jostling his shoulder and asking for more details. 

Will considered himself to be the luckiest married man in the whole of England. Anne was Will’s best friend. They had been friendly acquaintances before that Beltine when they had indulged in carnal activities. The both of them should have known better, after all Beltine was a fertility festivity. They had married and six months later Susanna had been born. Will couldn’t imagine not marrying Anne, she would have been shunned or killed if they hadn’t married. The world was dark and twisted towards single mothers. 

The twins had come along after another Beltine. Will loved Anne, and she loved him. But they weren’t exactly mad with passion for each other. Anne preferred the quiet life and she loved her children fiercely. Will had only been eighteen when they had married and Anne had been well into her twenties. They had long since agreed that they would raise the children together. But it had been Anne who had told Will to follow his dreams and take his plays to London. 

“You are young Will,” Anne had said. “Your whole life is ahead of you, and you do not belong in this small town. You are too large for it. You belong elsewhere. And I will not have you suffocate yourself on my account.” Anne had packed Will’s bag and paid for the coach ticket that took him to London. 

~ ~ 

Will met Kit at the pub, Kit wanted to go over scripts together, and Will very much wanted to see Kit again. Kit was sitting grimly at the table and he didn't have a drink. 

"So you're married" Kit abruptly said and Will stilled quickly looking over Kit's face and knowing he had come to all the wrong conclusions. Will sat down swiftly and quietly explained. 

Kit frowned, clearly not believing Will's explanation of his and Anne's friendship. "What, you have the perfect wife, who has no qualms with you gallivanting across London, and breaking several religious doctrines, your vows. And the fact that you're a sodomite?" 

Will winced. It did sound like an impossible feat. Kit scoffed and made to stand up. "No wait!" Will gasped, grabbing Kit's coat sleeve. Will hurriedly scrambled in his coat pocket and found a letter from Anne. "Please believe me. I'm not lying". Will begged holding the letter out to Kit. 

Kit sat back down and reluctantly unfolded the letter and began to read. Kit's eyes scanned carefully over the paper. He was silent for quite some time and Will tried not to sweat anxiously. 

Kit finally put down the letter. Will waited for Kit to say something. Kit ran a finger over the letter tapping it against the table. "She sounds lovely". Kit ventured and the tenseness in Will's muscles relaxed. 

Kit gave Will a tentative smile and the worry in Will's chest settled. Kit then asked what Will thought of the Aeneid. They both quickly fell into a heated debate. Tossing verse back and forth.


	6. Chapter Six

Kit studied Will's profile closely. The letter from Will's wife had failed to settle the stewing turmoil in his mind. If anything it had caused it to grow. 

Will was happily married. His wife seemed like a dream. Why would Will ever even consider Kit to be any sort of competition for Will's heart. In the face of such a strong and solid friendship that he had with his wife. The woman who was the mother of Will's three children.

Kit swallowed the bitterness in his mouth and felt it slide deep down to his heart. Kit was no match against the adversary of a good friend.

~ ~

Kit had a very large house. It was ostentatiously big. He also had several skulls and seemed to be very fond of the colour red. 

Kit threw Will a lascivious look over his shoulder fluttering his eyelashes at Will in a come hither look. Will happily obliged. 

Will found he was very appreciative of Kit’s ridiculously expensive silk sheets and huge soft mattress. Will sucked Kit’s bottom lip between his teeth. “I’m not leaving this bed for a week,” Will said, mouthing along Kit’s jaw. Kit pushed Will back against the sheets. 

“Is that a promise?” Kit said with a tinge of steal. Will rocked his hips up against Kit's chasing his pleasure.

~ ~

Kit buried his nose in Will's curls and silently vowed to somehow win Will's affection's solely for himself. Kit would somehow find a way. Even if he had to make a deal with the devil himself.

______________________________________________________________________________

“What do you want?” Kit’s voice cut frantically across the room. Will threw Kit a disbelieving look. “Money?” Kit asked and Will’s fury flared like a terrible beast awakening. “Speak coward” Kit loomed over Will. Will fisted Kit’s shirt in his hands and he had Kit on his back across Kit’s fancy oak table. “Yes! Money! Power! Greatness! But above all freedom!” Will roared into Kit’s face. Will panted for air, his nails digging into Kit’s shirt and he paused. 

His nose brushing against Kit’s, thunder boomed between them. Kit raised a hand gently caressing the side of Will’s face and sliding it into the hair behind Will’s ear. Will’s heart thundered in his chest and lightning flashed around him. Kit grasped Will’s face, smashing their mouths together. Will let Kit ravish his mouth, giving as good as he got. Biting unforgivingly hard at Kit’s lips. Kit moaned and slipped his fingers between Will’s curls. 

Will felt the beast inside his heart roar again. Will ripped his mouth away from Kit and slammed Kit back onto the table. No Kit didn’t get to get out of this by distracting Will with his mouth. Kit, the bastard tilted his beautiful head back and laughed, running his thumbs over his mouth as though to keep the pressure of Will’s mouth against his. Will glared down at Kit and decided to walk away. 

“Will,” Kit said, getting up from the table. Kit’s hair framed his face it’s golden colour molten in the fire light. Kit looked at Will and for a moment he looked so young and unsure and almost afraid. Will felt the beast curl in his chest. Will was so angry at Kit, he didn’t truly know what he would do. Will turned his head away from Kit and went over to the chair where he had left his coat. Will couldn’t be around Kit any longer. 

“If it’s freedom you desire, freedom is before thee!” Kit shouted furiously after Will. Will could hear his frustration. Kit screamed and Will could hear things crashing to the ground. Will managed to go up the stairs and as far as the next floor. He sank down against the banister staring at the wall and listened to Kit rant and rave down below. Will hated himself for not being able to leave. Will hated Kit for the indescribable pull he caused in Will’s heart. 

Will did not know how long he sat on the wooden floor. Kit had long since been silent, but Will refused to let himself turn around and look down to see what Kit was doing. Will hated the desperation he felt, the hammering urge to turn around and see exactly where Kit was. The frantic need to go check and see if Kit had managed to hurt himself with all that smashing and yelling. 

Will heard Kit hoarsely mutter and then he raised his voice “Will, come down here please”. Kit managed to croak out sounding worn out and drained. Will slowly turned his head and looked down through the gaps in the banister. Kit was standing in the middle of chaos. He had managed to smash off a chair’s legs. Kit stood still a hand raised covering his face. 

Will’s heart lurched and he let his legs stand and take him stumbling down the stairs. Kit covered his face with both hands and shuddered trying to muffle a sob. Will slipped his hands around Kit’s wrists and pulled Kit’s hands away from his face. Tears stained Kit’s sharp features, his eyes brimming with tears. Will gently brushed the wetness off Kit’s cheeks.  
“No more spells Kit. No more madness”. Will murmured gravitating towards Kit. Kit’s face twisted and another tear slipped down his face.


	7. Chapter Seven

Will ran a thumb over the blue coat, it was velvet and had fine gold finishes. The coat was expensive and made Will look the part, a distinguished gentleman. Will fiddled with the earring. He knew he shouldn’t have bought it. But when he had seen it at the peddlers stall he had been visceraly reminded of Kit caressing Thomas Walsingham’s jaw and leaning in for a kiss. A white pearl drop earring flashing in the dull light dangling tauntingly from Thomas’ ear. Will sighed through his nose and put the earring one. The things that Kit Marlowe made Will do were quite extensive and ridiculous, and Will hoped for everyone’s sake that Kit never realised just how great a sway he had over Will’s actions. 

Kit was waiting for Will in the crowd. He was standing to one side smirk playing across his lips hip cocked to one side. Will tried not to puff out his chest, he was suddenly startlingly aware that the green of his shirt matched the green embroidery threaded across Kit’s coat. Kit gently slipped his hand into Will’s and leaned close to whisper into Will’s ear. “Come on, I’ll show you where the real party is”. Kit brushed the corner of his mouth teasingly against Will’s ear lobe. A sharp thrill went through Will straight to his cock. Will glared at Kit, who blinked innocently back and went up the stairs. Will took a deep breath. Kit had chosen to wear a particularly tight pair of trousers today. 

~ ~

Will’s eyes flitted around the room. Heavy smoke filled the air, and a man stood at the centre speaking of spells and mystery. Will grabbed onto Kit’s elbow and tightly dug his fingers in. Kit glanced nonchalantly over his shoulder at Will. Will did not like this one bit. Will was not really a fan of seeking out dark things. 

“I shall stare into the flames!” Kit declared and Will's stomach sank. 

“So shall I”. Will said grimly and the two of them approached the man. Kit barely seemed to breathe at all, his eyes were wide and haunting. Will carefully approached and let his eyes flicker down to the flames. There was a heavy smell in Will’s nose and his head grew heavy and his vision blurred. A dead man’s face stared back at Will screaming out and telling Will to follow. The air caught in Will’s throat as he tried to lurch away from the dead man’s bloody screaming face. 

Hands tore at Will’s waist tearing his coat and Kit’s voice cut through, “what did you see! Tell me! What did you see!” Will scrambled away from Kit’s pulling hands, panting for air, the dead man’s scream still ringing in his ears. “Will!” Kit shouted desperately. Will glanced back at Kit kneeling on the ground unhinged mania tinged Kit’s eyes. Will shook his head and fell out of the room away from the boring eyes of everyone in the room and the oppressive smoky air. The dead man's face stared back at Will. 

~ ~ 

Kit was standing alone at the centre of a violent storm. Will had gone. Kit screwed his eyes shut trying to banish the image of Will’s terrified face. Will pushing Kit off him and running out of the room. Kit wanted to feel something else, anything else. Kit’s chest was being torn wide open and his heart was being picked at bit by bit. 

Kit went to a mystic and something rushed over him and drowned out everything else. Kit wandered if this was what holiness felt like. Kit went and saw his old friend. Something horrible and pained lodged in his heart at the sight of his friend frail and weak, dying.

Kit had touched holiness. Perhaps if he touched hell Kit could stop his old friend from dying. Stop one more person from leaving him. 

~ ~ 

Will stared at the bare wall in his room. He hadn’t heard from Kit in days, and Will hadn’t sought Kit out either. Will pushed down his growing anxiety. It was fine. Kit would be fine. Will tossed his quill aside and abandoned the dark twisting words he had poured out. Ghost’s of wrongfully killed men haunting the living. Words and verses of darkness and black magic. Will shrugged on a coat and walked down the street to the pub. 

Will stared at the stone wall of the pub. The taste of beer lingered at the back of Will’s tongue. The light cast dark shadows on the walls. Goosebumps went up Will’s arms and he shuddered, shutting his eyes for a moment only to open them quickly when the image of the dead man hovered behind his eyes. 

“William Shakespeare?” Someone asked behind Will. Will turned and was surprised to find Thomas Walsingham standing behind him. An echo of fear rang through Will’s body, his heart thudded in his chest. Thomas could very well be here to accuse Will of being either Catholic or a sodomite. Both of which were very true and Will had nowhere to run in the bustling pub. 

Thomas Walsingham swallowed glancing at the bar, his white earring swung with the motion of his head. “It’s Kit,” Thomas began tentatively, “he. I found him. He hired a group of men to send him to the devil”. 

Will jerked forward, unable to hide his reaction, his heart pounding anew. “To the devil? Is he hurt?” When Thomas didn’t answer fast enough Will’s bones became leaden with dread. “Is Kit dead?” Thomas frowned, clenching his hands. 

“I don’t know, they had Kit tied to a chair in the middle of a pentagram and they were chanting in Latin. Kit told me to get out”. Thomas looked incredibly uncomfortable. “I couldn’t get him to stop.”

“Where is he!?” Will demanded shaking Thomas. 

“At his house-” 

Will knocked over a stool and pushed his way out of the pub. Will’s heart was in his throat. Kit was an idiot, Will chest tightened with panic. Will didn’t want Kit to die. Will couldn’t live without Kit. His beautiful laugh, and the soft gentle smile of his that was genuine. Will couldn’t live without Kit’s obnoxious and infuriating nudges. Without his long rants on philosophy, science and reason. Will couldn’t live without Kit’s habit of randomly saying a phrase in Latin, French or Spanish just to make himself look distinguished. Will’s lungs burned and his boots slapped loudly against the cobblestone street. 

Will tore down Kit’s front door. “Kit!” Will shouted into the dark room, silence greeted Will. Moonlight shone in through the overarching windows. The room was a mess. It was always a mess. “KIT!” Will screamed at the top of his lungs pulling at the red curtains Kit had at every corner. There was a pentagram chalked onto the floor of Kit’s room. Strange symbols scrawled at each point. Terror rushed through Will spiking his adrenaline. Kit wasn’t here. 

Will ran out of Kit’s house and stopped on the street outside. Will darted his eyes around, trying to catch his breath. Where would they have taken Kit? Will’s blood was pounding in his ears, he couldn’t think past his panic. A soft sound slipped past Will’s lips a quiet broken murmur “Kit”.  
Will roamed up and down the streets of London uselessly. Dawn light dared to peek across the tops of the roofs. Will’s feet led him back to his own room. Will unlocked the door with icy numb fingers. To the devil, Thomas had said. Will scrunched his eyes shut and deep grief tore apart heart. Kit was probably dead. Will slumped to the floor of his room and sobbed painfully.


	8. Chapter Eight

“Will!” A voice shouted from downstairs. Will stirred, his ribs ached from sleeping on the cold floor of his room. His mouth tasted horrible. “William Shakespeare!” someone shouted and pounded up the stairs. Will sat up, light flooded into the room. His eyes hurt. The door banged against the wall behind it and Kit stood in the doorway. His face was a mangled mess of cuts and bruises. 

Will stumbled to feet gulping a breath “Kit?” Will whispered. Kit came into the room talking passionately but Will couldn’t take eyes off Kit. He was alive, he was wearing one of his fancy coats, and he was alive. 

“Are you alright?” Will asked reaching out a trembling hand to gently ghost over a horrid purple bruise that marred Kit’s cheek bone. 

“Oh,” Kit softly settling his hand over Will’s. “Yes, I had quite forgotten”. Will shot Kit a disbelieving look. 

“You forgot? Really?” Will’s chest tightened and his eyes stung with fresh tears. Will took a shuddering breath and he gently pressed his forehead against Kit’s. “Never do that to me again”. Will gasped “I thought. I thought.” Will let out a sob.  
“I’m sorry” Kit whispered brushing their noses together. 

~ ~ 

They lay together entwined Will softly brushing his hand through Kit’s hair, and Kit spoke.

Kit told Will of his dead friend. His first lover. Of the grief and agony. 

“When you left the stars extinguished. And the sky was so suffocatingly black that I almost expired. But when I pulled myself out from under the weight of my despair I found I was cold and hard” Kit ran his fingers over Will’s knuckles.

“Glittering like a diamond.” Kit shuddered. “The thrill, the liberation of being truly seen for the first time was intoxicating.” Kit confessed his words were like poetry.

Will sunk his arm tightly around Kit’s waist tightening their embrace. “I was like a great stupid child under the broad sword slicing and swiping at everything and everyone".

Kit huffed self-deprecatingly . “Drunk on the power of being Chris-topher bloody Marlowe.” Kit paused, he was trembling softly. Will placed a gentle kiss on Kit's forehead.

“And I vowed never again to let another human’s soul pierce my sparkling carapace.” Kit shut his eyes for a breath resting his head against Will’s shoulder, seeking comfort. 

“But when he died.” A tear slid down Kit’s face, beautiful and heartbreaking. “When he died I shattered like glass.” Kit reached a hand out to trace against Will’s eyebrow. “That’s why I pushed you away. I couldn’t bare to be hurt like that again.” 

"Oh Kit" Will murmured into the delicate air between them. "Kit" Will whispered, brushing his thumbs under Kit's eyes and wiping away the tears. "I love you". 

Kit froze in Will's arm staring disbelieving into Will's eyes. "You, you do?" Kit asked quietly and so carefully like he was scared Will would deny his words. 

"I love you" Will repeated louder and firmly and pressed their mouths together. Kit made a soft broken noise and melted into Will's embrace. "I love you" Will said against Kit's mouth. "I love you".


End file.
